Why does your company have a website? Is it because someone told you that all businesses need one? Maybe your customers were asking why you didn’t have one? In today’s B2B climate just having a website isn’t enough. Your website, if done right, could be a lead generation machine.
More than Requesting a Quote
The ‘Request a Quote’ page is a pretty standard page on any B2B website. It’s also usually the most visible component of a page. Why? It’s how your business makes money. Ideally, a high volume of website visitors would equal more leads and then in turn more happy, repeat and referring customers. Not so fast, my friend.
What if I told you more than 90% of your website visitors end up on your site and then take no action? It’s true. It happens. Why is this happening? The person on your site isn’t ready to buy yet. However, they are looking to be educated. If you have educational content that is both interesting and relevant, people are likely to stay, and more importantly come back to your website when they’re ready to buy.
Mobile Friendly
You can count the amount of hours I spend on an actual computer (outside of work of course) per week on one hand. I’m always on my phone, though. If your site isn’t mobile friendly you instantly lose credibility. Most content management systems such as WordPress, HubSpot or the super slick Studio PFG (slightly biased) do a great job of automatically making your site user friendly.
When in doubt, design with the end user in mind. As the internet evolves more and more emphasis is placed on user experience. If you’re not making it easy for a potential customer to find the information they’re looking for, they’re going to get frustrated and probably go to a competitor.
Site Loads Slowly
Your business has about 5 seconds to get the attention of its visitors, and then they'll click away. Slow load times can cut into your 5 seconds. If your site loads slowly, work with your web developer to explore your options to enhance page speed and website performance.
No Soft Conversion Opportunities
Contact Us and Request a Quote forms are pretty standard on today’s websites. However, as mentioned earlier, they’re just not enough. There’s nothing better than when someone fills out an RFQ form or a contact us form, because that means they’re ready to buy. However, you shouldn’t be neglecting the potential customers who are just looking for answers.
Soft conversion opportunities are ways to capture a person’s contact details in exchange for an informative offer. You should only ask for a name, email and a company name in exchange for a basic content offer such as an eBook, checklist or a whitepaper. As the offers get more complex you can ask for more information. For example, if you’re just giving away a one-page checklist you are more likely to get more names and emails than if you were to ask specific information about the person’s company, budget, etc.
In the perfect world a soft conversion campaign would go like this:
- Person searches for keyword relevant to your business
- A blog post on your company site answering the person’s question appears in the search results
- The user reads the blog post then clicks on a call-to-action at the bottom of the post promoting an eBook relevant to their industry
- They are taken to a landing page where they fill out a form
- They are directed to a thank you page, with a link to download the offer
- They are automatically entered into an email automation workflow and more importantly your CRM
- Your workflows nurture them along the buyer’s journey
- They become a happy and fulfilled customer, referring other potential customers because you’re so helpful
No Blog
Last, but certainly not least. You need to blog. Blogging consistently is imperative to online marketing success. Blogs give you the opportunity to answer the questions you get asked the most, so when a potential customer is searching for answers you show up.
If you take one piece of advice from this article it should be you need to blog consistently. If you blog, at a minimum, once per week the content will compound over time and your domain authority will increase, meaning you will be more likely to show up in google search results for the keywords you’re blogging about.
Here are a few steps to take to develop a blogging strategy for your company:
- Keyword research
- Define your target audience (persona)
- Know your persona’s journey
- Develop a content calendar
- Work ahead
- Promote the heck out of it on social media
No time? No problem.
There’s a lot that goes into turning your website into a lead generation machine. Whether you don’t have a website yet, need a new website, or you’re just sick of not getting any leads from your website, there’s a strategy for you. At ProFromGo we are committed to lead generation, customer acquisition and giving our clients the competitive advantage they need to make a dent in their industry.
We work with many clients across many different industries. If this is something you’re struggling with, I’d love to help. Here’s a link to my calendar to schedule a free 30-minute assessment of your current website and marketing efforts.
